


Short 17 - Justice Be Done

by stgjr



Series: "The Power of a Name" Series 2 - "Time Lord Triumphant" [12]
Category: DCU (Comics), Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005), Green Arrow (Comics), Justice League of America (Comics), Multi-Fandom
Genre: Crossover, Gen, Multiverse, multiple crossover
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-03
Updated: 2017-04-03
Packaged: 2018-10-14 10:57:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10535046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stgjr/pseuds/stgjr
Summary: Our narrator arrives during the cataclysmic destruction of a city and finds a little girl in a collapsing building.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally posted on June 18th, 2014.

**Short 17 - Justice Be Done**  
  
Katherine and I stood at the doorway of the TARDIS and looked up into the night sky, a sky dominated with the Carinae Nebula. It was a pretty and lovely sight, to be sure. "It's beautiful," Katherine agreed. "And what planet is this?"  
  
"Oh, just another Earth-like planet out of oh so many," I replied. "They'll call this one Otrera in a few decades. It's not inhabited right now, that would have been... awkward."  
  
We spent some time there, taking in the sights of the unsettled planet and its gorgeous sky. Katherine let out a little yawn, trying to keep me from noticing. "All tuckered out, are you?", I asked.  
  
"Yes," she admitted. "I hate to admit it."  
  
"Well, it's that stern Inner Sphere nobility part of you, don't want to admit weakness." I stepped back into the TARDIS first, prompting her to do the same. "Looking to get back to the Christmas social season, eh?"  
  
"No," Katherine admitted. "Well... I am doing some good. There are charities I'm supporting, and it _is_ Christmas."  
  
"That is. Come on, I'll get you back home. We've done enough running this time."  
  
"I should say so," she said, smiling and fighting another yawn. "You always seem to run into trouble, but I've never seen two sides go after you like that."  
  
"Yes, well..." I sighed. "I'm not much a fan of the Imperium of Man and they're not much fans of me. And the Orks, well, they're bloody Orks, what more is there to say?"  
  
"What about that other orc, though?"  
  
"Oh, Nutt? Orc with a 'c' instead of a 'k'. Wonderful chap. That's the key difference, there. The 'k'." I finished flipping switches and took the control lever. I pulled it back without a word and shifted the TARDIS out.  
  
And I nearly fell over from the shaking. Katherine did, yelping as she landed. "Blast it, what's wrong, girl? Hrm? Dimensional knot? Better..." I checked the readings. "Oh dear, it's a falling building. We've materialized into..."  
  
That was when I saw the life sign.  
  
"Stay here!" I dashed over to the door and threw it open. It was a home of some sort. The sonic was picking up powerful energy waves buffeting the building and threatening to bring it down any second.  
  
I heard a whimper of fear and looked under a coffee table to find a little girl in blue pants and a sleeved shirt. Green eyes looked back at me and in that moment I could see she was of Asian ancestry even with her lighter complexion. "Come on, little one," I called out. "The building is falling down, we have to get you to safety."  
  
"Who are you?", she asked, fearful.  
  
"I'm the Doctor," I answered. "I'm here to help."  
  
The building shuddered again. Pieces of drywall and structure began to fall around us. "Are you a friend of my Daddy?", she asked.  
  
"I don't know, but I try to be friends with everyone. Come along, there's nothing to be afraid of..." Except, of course, for the falling building, but I wasn't going to bring that up and scare the girl further.  
  
With clear reluctance she came out enough for me to pick her up. I scooped her into my arms and returned to the TARDIS. Behind me the roar of the collapsing building built to the point that I knew we'd have both been crushed if we'd stayed just a few seconds longer.  
  
Katherine met me inside the TARDIS. "Doctor, what's...?"  
  
"No time!" I put the little girl into her arms and raced for the controls. "The whole bloody building is coming down around us," I said. "Shifting us out now!"  
  
As I finished, Katherine looked at the little girl who was, obviously, impressed by the interior of the TARDIS. Although not as impressed as I thought she'd be. The girl looked at her and asked, "Who're you?"  
  
"I'm Katherine. And you are...?"  
  
"Lian," she answered.  
  
I lifted my head from the controls as I heard that. "Lian? That's your name?"  
  
"Uh-huh," she answered, nodding.  
  
I felt a shudder of energy go through me. "You... is your name Lian _Harper_?", I asked.  
  
"Uh-huh."  
  
I could only react one way at that.  
  
I let out a cry of triumph, beginning to laugh as I did. "Oh, my dear, you certainly know where I'm needed!", I shouted, patting the controls of the TARDIS.  
  
"Doctor?" Katherine set Lian down and gave me a bewildered look. "What is it?"  
  
"Perfect timing, my dear Katherine! Perfect timing!" I began altering the TARDIS' destination. "And now that I know _when_ we are, I've got some business to attend to. Would you please get the medical kit? The full one, I'm going to need it."  
  
Katherine nodded and headed into the lower area of the control room. That left Lian alone with me. "How did you know my name?", she asked, looking up at me.  
  
"Oh, I know quite a few names, my dear," I answered, making my final adjustment. "And I do know your father. Not well, I'm afraid we haven't had a chance to work together, but I do know him. Good man. He loves you to death."  
  
He'd also just had half his right arm chopped off by a maniac, but I'd deal with that momentarily.  
  
"Now, Lian, I need you to stay inside the TARDIS until it's safe. I'm taking you to your Dad's friends, but there's a dangerous man there. Stay with Katherine, okay? When it's over, they'll take you to your Dad."  
  
"Okay." She looked up at the engine. "What is that sound?"  
  
 _VWORP VWORP VWORP_ was the sound, of course. "Oh, that's the TARDIS engine, my dear. She makes that sound whenever I move her. It's a lovely sound, loveliest sound in all the multiverse. Now stay here, and there may be some candy in it too." I winked at her and went for the door.  
  
The scenery around me was polished, shiny metal. I recognized the figures, some of them hurt, assembled in the chamber I'd materialized us into, but my focus was on the one in the middle, the only one bound, held in place by a chair and bonds made of pure green light... pure willpower, actually. It was to my chagrin that he was primarily clad in purple, my favorite color, although the helmet on his head was a clashing light gray, silverish thing.  
  
"Ah, hello everyone," I said. "I'm never entirely sure _when_ I am when I visit you, so in case we've yet to meet, I'm the Doctor." I snapped my fingers, closing the TARDIS door.  
  
"You helped Superman once." The speaker was the lovely, very married Dinah Lance, otherwise known as Black Canary.  
  
"Yes. Ah, Hal, is this before or after that whole mess on...."  
  
"....Djama? After." Hal Jordan, Green Lantern, nodded at me. "Good to see you, Doctor. But we're in the middle of..."  
  
"...interrogating this fellow, yes," I finished. "He just triggered his device in Star City."  
  
That won me looks of horror from everyone. Except the prisoner, who had a smirk... but one that was just slightly less than full. "Ah, you don't know about me, do you Prometheus?" I smiled. "First things first. Star City needs help."  
  
"Right."  
  
I left Dinah to do the work of assigning heroes to go to the city's aid. "Arrow, don't worry," I called out. "Lian's in the TARDIS. I picked her up."  
  
"How did you know Prometheus was doing this?", he asked.  
  
I could have honestly answered 'Because I read it in a very frustrating comic book once', but that would be silly... and not entirely accurate for me at the time since I couldn't remember real fact from formerly-fiction fact at that stage anyway. Instead my answer was, "I didn't, my TARDIS did. Although I knew about this event. Time traveler and all."  
  
"I don't know who you are..."  
  
"...'but you're going to blah blah whatever'," I finished for the villain. "Honestly, threats?"  
  
"I've still got devices across the continent," he declared. "I want my freedom, or I let them all go off."  
  
"And given your knowledge of their powers, I'm sure you've got some kind of countermeasures against them," I said. "You know, that helmet of yours is interesting. Direct neural interface allowing prediction of actions based on profiles inside, yes? Don't answer that. The direct part is the important one. _Direct_ neural interface. Now, I'm sure you have all sorts of electronic countermeasures from technology you've seen, but I do wonder...." I brought out my sonic screwdriver. "...if it will work against this. Sonic screwdriver, finest in Gallifreyan technology. How about we try, hrm?"  
  
"Doctor..." Hal looked at me with some concern. "This isn't going to be like Djama, is it?"  
  
"Oh, come now, that was a fluke. I didn't realize the circuit was there in time. Besides, we _did_ get out." Seeing his look, I amended "Barely" in concession.  
  
I didn't see a point in playing around any longer so, without ado, I pointed the sonic at his helmet and triggered it. He let out a cry of pain and confusion as I used the sonic to interface with his helmet, and through it to his brain. "You know, it's only hurting because you're fighting the connection. You should know your own technology, I would think." I pulled in closer as he squirmed inside of Hal's construct-chair. "Ah, codes, codes... look at that, I wasn't even sure this would _work_. You really should look into better firewall software... presuming you put the helmet on again, and I'd advise you not to."  
  
"You... can't... do this!", Prometheus insisted.  
  
"I just did," I retorted. I brought the sonic up and used it to transmit the codes into the Watchtower systems. "There. You should be able to remotely disable Prometheus' weapons now."  
  
"You... you..." I could feel rage building up inside Prometheus.  
  
"I ruined everything," I finished for him. And then I leaned in close. "Let me explain something to you. I am not a 'hero'. I am not a 'cape'. I am a _Time Lord_. I don't follow their code, I follow my own. So I'm giving you one chance, _one bloody chance_ , to walk away from this and into a nice jail cell where you'll accept whatever fate the courts have for you. And I had better never hear about you coming back. Because there will be _no second chances_. I'll make you regret ever building that bloody helmet."  
  
At that point I turned away, ready to get Lian and take her to see her wounded father.  
  
Prometheus is a smart bugger, but he's got a temper too. His scheme was ruined, he couldn't bargain those cities' safety away for freedom, he had nothing left but either surrender or payback.  
  
I was quite unsurprised that he chose the latter.  
  
Hal was staying to his side to avoid giving him a shot. Prometheus had apparently planned for the possibility of getting restrained as he was, however, and with a movement his arm was free, detaching from an oversized gauntlet, and his hand was gripping a device. It emitted a short pulse of energy that hit Hal before he could adjust to defend himself, sending the Green Lantern to his knees and causing his restraint construct to vanish.  
  
I was already in the middle of turning when he brought his weapon over to face me. He brought it up... and dropped it as it exploded in sparks, courtesy of my sonic screwdriver. "No second chances," I quietly reminded him before I triggered the sonic again. This time, it was at his helmet.  
  
Set for full active feedback.  
  
Into a direct neural interface.  
  
Prometheus screamed. It was a rather horrible scream. And it only ended as he fell to the ground, unconscious. Comatose, frankly.  
  
Hal was getting back to his feet as I stepped up to the fallen man and used my sonic on him. "Well, that's quite a bad amount of brain damage," I remarked in a low voice. "He'll live, but he won't be dressing up in my favorite color anymore."  
  
"You meant for him to do that," Hal said, only a slight bit of accusation in his tone.  
  
"No," I replied. "I simply anticipated he would. Now... I'd better see to Roy's arm. I might be able to save it."  
  
  
  
  
Some hours later Katherine was yawning and ready to collapse while we watched Roy Harper, aka the Red Arrow, hold his daughter with his newly re-attached arm. It was a tough job, and required the assistance of the superhero medical community, but the advanced technology I had in my med kits allowed for the restoration of the arm with about a 90% recovery of use. It might take time for Roy to put the red tights back on, but... well, it was worth it.  
  
Especially given what I'd saved him from; the loss of his dear Lian.  
  
She was coloring away, under her father's watchful eye, as I overheard the League talk about the cleanup of Prometheus' devices and of Star City. Other citizens of Oliver Queen's city had not had me there to save them, I must sadly report. Prometheus had yet claimed his price in blood.  
  
He was there too, actually, in a nearby bed, oblivious to the world.  
  
"Doctor..." Katherine looked up at me, exhausted. "Did you have to do that to him?"  
  
I didn't answer.  
  
"Doctor?"  
  
"Probably not," I conceded.  
  
"Then... why?"  
  
"Because, Katherine, Good is not always Nice. Because men like that can't always be bargained with." I crossed my arms. "He would have murdered millions out of a vendetta. And when he attacked me, he proved he wasn't going to repent of that. He had to be dealt with."  
  
"I don't think these... 'superheroes' are very happy with you for doing that," she pointed out.  
  
"Yes and no. It's... something they feel to keep themselves in control. It's why I don't do this every time either, if I went about doing it all the time, I'd become... something terrible." I smiled at her. "That's why company's good for me. You keep me honest, keep me thinking about these things."  
  
"You're welcome, Doctor," she answered. And then she yawned even louder. "I'm sorry, I'm just..."  
  
"You'll be back in your bed soon enough. It's about time we go before I wear out the welcome." I brought out the TARDIS remote.  
  
Before I could activate it, Lian came up to us with a paper in her hands. She offered it to me like a precious gift. "Well, what have we here?", I asked, leaning down.  
  
"It's you and your friend and me and Daddy and Mia..." She went about explaining the colorful crayon drawing, with my likeness and Katherine's standing to either side of a blue square clearly meant to be the TARDIS. "I made it for you."  
  
"That is very generous," I said. "You will make quite the fine artist one day, Lian." I accepted the paper with one hand and used the other to offer a handshake. "I'll be going now, but I may be back."  
  
"Okay," she said. She stepped back and stood beside her father's bed.  
  
"Thank you," Roy Harper said.  
  
"You're welcome as well, Mister Harper. Do take care." I held up the TARDIS remote and used it to materialize the TARDIS around us.  
  
Once we were inside, I went for the controls while Katherine took a seat on the stairs. "You have a penchant, Doctor, for rescuing little girls," Katherine teased.  
  
"Well, I rescue a lot of people, it's just sometimes memorable when it's the little girl. Everyone remembers the little girls and the old ladies...." I pulled back the TARDIS lever to shift us away. When I looked back over, I saw Katherine was virtually asleep herself, laying along the stair. I allowed myself a small smile and began the process of shifting us somewhere quiet. After that I gently carried her to my usual hammock and left her in it to sleep. I could sleep later, after all; I still had a project to finish building.  
  
I turned and faced the hologram of my TARDIS, taking the form of a girl I had in my head, a creation of my imagination that my TARDIS felt was most like her. "Cat," I said, using my name for her. "Thank you."  
  
"You needed to be there," the TARDIS answered. "You should go and rest, my Doctor. Your project will be waiting for you in the morning."  
  
I went to object and found myself yawning. "Yes, maybe it's for the best," I conceded.  
  
First things first, though. I took Lian's drawing and found a place above the TARDIS controls for it. Once it was snug and in place I walked away, smiling, to take up a nap in my library recliner.


End file.
